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>> bbc news, live from washington, d.c., the headlines this hour -- barack obama has won a second term as president of united states. he promised the next four years will be better than the last. >> our road has been hard, our journey has been long, and we are kicking ourselves up and fighting our way back. we know in our hearts that for the united states of america, the best is yet to come. [applause] >> his challenger, mitt romney, but -- conceded defeat. many of the key battleground states went to the democrats. >> i just called the president to congratulate him on his victory. his supporters in the campaign also deserve congratulations.

i wish them well, particularly the president, the first lady, and their daughters. >> world leaders have been offering congratulations to barack obama. we will assess the challenges he faces in his second term. >> well, lo, welcome again to washington, d.c. -- well, hello, welcome again to washington, d.c. people are waking up to the news that they have four more years with barack obama as their president. he won the electoral college and has 303 electoral college votes so far.

the president took almost all of the key swing states that have focused -- that have had so much attention focused on them. the popular vote across the country has proved very tight, standing at the moment, without the result from florida, 50.2% of the american people supported barack obama, 48.3% for his challenger, mitt romney. we will bring in more electoral votes once the results come through. if we look at the u.s. congress, meanwhile, republicans maintained control of the lower house, democrats have kept their majority in the upper house. this is how those electoral votes stack up, state-by-state. mitt romney, 206 electoral

votes, president obama, 303. compared to the last election, president obama 1365 electoral votes, john mccain won on hundred 73. back then, we should say that he won n.c. and indiana, but those states went to mitt romney this time around. let's get the full story of the night from our washington correspondent. >> the first family, stepping out to a second term. to the strains of signed, sealed, committed. looking forward to the inspiration from the voters. >> you, the american people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey

has been long, we have to pick ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the united states of america, the best is yet to come. [applause] >> by then it was nearly 2:00 in the morning, the culmination of an exhilarating night. >> this is an abc news special report. >> election settled when they brought in the results of the most important swing state of all. >> the battleground state of ohio goes to president barack obama, meaning that you are looking at the president of the -- of the united states, barack obama. >> at the hotel they sealed the victory with a tweet, reading -- four more years. and then they parted.

at the obama hq in chicago, in the new york times square, and in front of the house that the obama's will continue to call home. >> this is great for america. >> for more years. >> i am for a better future. >> with all the euphoria of 2008, there is explicit relief. this weary nation has been given the benefit of the doubt, barack obama has another four years. >> for the challenger, his moment has passed. mitt romney fell short in swing states. >> i wish i had been able to fill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction, but the nation shows another leader. i join with you to earnestly pray for him and this great

nation. thank you, god bless america. you guys are the best. thank you so much. thank you. thanks, guys. >> so, what decided it? the exit polls tell us that the economy was the dominant count -- dominant concern, but almost half the voters felt that things were getting better. history may also conclude that the president benefited from his handling of hurricane sandy. to take america forward, barack obama will have to work with a divided congress, but in victory offered optimism. >> whether i have earned your vote or not, i have listened to you and learned from you, and you have made me a better president. and with your stories, i returned to the white house more determined and more inspired than ever on the future that

lies ahead. >> so, it is over. the $2 billion election that shook america and left the political landscape intact, it falls to this man to deliver change again. abc news -- bbc news, washington. discussed these results overnight with tim gilmour, who has stayed with us. former governor, thank you very much for being with us here. mitt romney seemed to have so much going for him, particularly after that first debate. where did it go wrong after that? >> he did have momentum and people were very excited about his campaign, but at the end of the day people decided to give barack obama one more term to

try to work on the economic problems facing the united states. personally, i believe that we have to be much more aggressive than the president has been, offering affirmative and solid programs of growth in the united states. frankly, i do not know if the president wants to be able to do that or not, but everyone wants to reach out to him and make him a success. >> when you say more aggressive, it would appear that the electorate wants him to continue the party line, even though they clearly recognize the economic challenges faced by the nation. >> we clearly are offering the opportunity, as he said, moving in the right direction. whereas mitt romney's the choice -- approach was that we do not have time, we need to move

aggressively now. that is our democracy. we hope for the president's success. our commitment is to the people of the united states. >> but you would have preferred mitt romney to be in the white house for the next four years. what about his campaign? what about propelling him into that position? did he not reach out to the latino vote? was there not more in that regard? >> i think that i would answer it this way, i would -- i would agree that the republican party as an institution needs to reach in. i said that these were the key

economic issues that face the nation for the communities out there, and i believe that is true today. i believe the republican party has to broaden its base and explain the obligations to all americans, no matter the gender or ethnic background. >> is there enough understanding within the party? if they want to win next time around, that will have to be done? >> the republican party is a complicated thing. there are a lot of different groups combine under one roof. the challenge of statesmanship is to be the mall into one direction. i believe that we will be able to do that. >> have they been pulled apart by the tea party? was that a problem for mitt romney?

was his record perhaps more liberal than some realized? switching to the right? >> i have been through that process myself. the tea party attitude is that they have come into the party and added a line of thinking, the challenge is how we are born to harmonize that with positive programs in the united states of america, which i believe we have. pro-growth programs to build up the economy and our economic strength in the world. to challenge us and explain it all americans why that program is suitable for off and future. >> very diplomatic, talking

about compromise, we always hear this on the first day of an election, but we always go back to the same divide. how on earth is the economy going to approve -- improved? there is a divided congress. >> the truth is that in america, lots of people get elected to both parties and we still have a majority in the house of representatives. we do not have to give in to bad policy just because we did not win the presidential election. if the president wants to do things that are not suitable for the united states, we do not have to roll over and do everything he has said, but we do have to find a way to harmonize these things. that is the message of this presidential campaign. dividing the republican party into smaller groups is not the right answer. that lesson comes through loud and clear. >> thank you very much, indeed.

lovely to have you with us here. very kind of you, jim gilmore, a former governor of virginia. one of the topics is the struggling economy that dominated the election campaign. january 1, barack obama will not have long to enjoy his victory, these crucial issues need to be tackled quickly. the fiscal cliff is a phrase that we heard a lot in the campaign and we will continue to hear a lot about a combination of tax breaks running out at the end of this year and spending cuts. these measures are so severe that there are many that fear it will derail the u.s. economic recovery. from new york, our correspondent explains. >> across america, voters have chosen the next president and his first task is to revive an ailing economy.

with a commitment to cut public spending kicking in, together they know it as a fiscal cliff and they know it has a power to make or break the american economy. >> america, spending too much money, its national debt is soaring. to pay for it, the government is extending everything, from social security to housing and health care, also asking americans to pay more as well, discussing tax cuts introduced by the last government. >> for this restaurant owner, scrapping these tax breaks could hit business hard. it would mean that staff here would be forced to pay more tax on their earnings, meaning he is forced to pay them more. >> when our employees suddenly have smaller paychecks

[unintelligible] it would be great to know that that was going to stick around. >> in all, america needs to pay $620 billion, but economists are worried that cutting that much spending could lead to the cost of too many jobs. it could plunge america back into recession. >> we are in immediate and severe austerity, that is what the fiscal cliff will do. givi time to prepare, phasing it in slowly. >> the white house politicians left it too late, and politicians have been in deadlock. they have been unable to agree on the results.

finding that compromise will be the president's first job as he begins his new term in the white house. ben johnson, bbc news, new york. >> you are watching bbc world news. barack obama has been reelected as the u.s. president. the challenger, mitt romney, conceded defeat in key battleground states that fell to the democrats. talk a bit more about international reaction. president obama will have a new counterpart in china to work with during his second term, someone looking to approve country leaders for the next decade. looking for new relationships between the world's biggest

economies, perhaps. in beijing, yes, how will the news of a second term in america be going down, martin? >> you are right in saying that there has been no change in the white house, but there will be change here in china. that change will start tomorrow. china's current generation of leaders has spoken to president obama and congratulated him on his election victory. an editorial from the state-run news agency stressed that once the election was over the china bashing, you might remember that during the campaign both candidates were highly critical of china, particularly over trade practices. particularly, economic issues will be part of the strained relationship between the countries. in i think that the bigger issue

going to the future will be the president's attitude towards asia. we are seeing the united states building up alliances with many countries, leaving beijing deeply worried. some officials believe that america is trying to contain the rise of china. that will be a key issue between the countries. let's not forget, this is the most important diplomatic relationship anywhere in the world. >> martin, thank you. let's head to brussels and join chris morris. the european union is america's biggest trading partner. what do the next four years have in store? >> the european union has so many internal problems, they do

not want further external distractions. there is a sense of relief that it is business as usual, they have the same administration to deal with. some of the characters may change. timothy geithner has been closely involved in the eurozone crash crisis, but there may be others as time goes on, without dramatic changes, that is how it would have wanted it in large part. it is so default -- involved in dealing with its own problems, they would want an extra level of certainty. on key foreign policy issues, those are some of the things that mitt romney has been talking about. the prospect of a possible trade war with china and its currency manipulation, this was sending shivers in to the european capital.

they do not agree about everything, but i think it all comes down to the economy. david cameron mentioned that he would like to see much more work done on european union trade deals. these are practical issues that will be the focus over the next four years. >> thank you. heading to tehran, this is a crucial area, of course. do i even need to ask what is being made of another four years of barack obama? and what might happen in the coming months? >> many people in iran are concerned that the republican win would mean war. simply because they think that obama will move quickly to set up a new round of talks for

iranian nuclear ambitions. given the choice between them, the main question is, which one is more acceptable as the main politician. for mitt romney, officials were going to impose a cessation of activity, or president obama, with its peaceful nuclear rights to iran. i think they are happier to see barack obama in the office again. we also are seeing that the market has reacted positively and the exchange rate has dropped slightly over the last couple of hours. >> many thanks for now. thank you. let's go to moscow as well. the editor of "russian global

affairs" joins us now. thank you for joining us. there has been tension in relations, certainly in the later stages of president obama's presidency. what are they making their of the reelection today? >> the reelection of obama is seen as a positive. the prime minister, who has done a lot of business with obama, is reacting with joy, saying that it is very good that obama one, not that romney. at the same time, i would not say that the russian political establishment was extremely interested in who would win. there is a growing feeling in russia that the relationship between russia and the united states, since the end of the cold war, is developing

according to certain cycles. it is a style of relationship that will be repeated over time. of course, the person matters. it will be easier to deal with obama, but i do not think the we can extract some profound change. even if mitt romney won, it would not be such a big difference. >> right, the key issue was the head of many of the imminent issues. like syria. >> yes, syria. syria, most likely will continue to be a central

relationship. but this is a current affair that will likely be settled in another way. the problem is that we do not have any new agenda with the united states, we are still digesting the remnants of the cold war. >> sorry that we cannot speak longer. it was good to get your perspective. thank you. much more reaction coming through all the time, that is it from washington, d.c. for now. we have had an extraordinary night, let's remind ourselves of the highlights of this u.s. presidents election. >> i just called president obama to congratulate him on his victory. his supporters and campaign also

deserve congratulations. >> we will forever be the united states of america. we will continue our journey forward. this is why we live in the greatest nation on earth. thank you, america. ♪

>> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers use their expertise in global finance to guide you through the business strategies and opportunities of international commerce. we put our extended global network to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> bbc world news was presented by kcet los angeles.